Friday, September 25, 2009

Synchronicity, Gratitude and Beyond



I do believe in synchronicity. In fate. In higher powers. I have seen this poster in Life Alive, a local restaurant. Not only did it make me fall in love with the restaurant even more, but I put this on my list of things to search out. Literally, I took pen and jotted down, "find "How to Build a Community Poster." That notation, along with "get more kitty litter", "call the bank", and "kill viruses on Mike's computer" sat quiet, waiting for action until this morning.

OK, I have not jogged out to my nearest poster store, and I have not ordered it online (yet?) But I have not let the timing of recent events slip by unnoticed - I rejoice in what God is putting in front of me.

Last night Dave and I attended the presentation of Rachel's Challenge at the high school. The program was led by a young man named Luke from Denver, CO. He is a good friend of Craig Scott, who was nearly killed at the Columbine shooting. Craig's sister was Rachel Scott, the very first victim on that horrible day. He also lost two good friends at the hands of the killers.

You can check the site for the particulars, and please do, but the main point of the project is to spread kindness. Young Rachel was a strong believer in reaching out to others, to show that no one needs to be alone, and that it's easier to spread kindness than hate.

This was an overwhelming experience, even with Tom's previews. He had attended the same assembly yesterday, and was not only tremendously impressed with the presentation, he was impressed by his fellow students. "Mom, everyone was SO...quiet."

There are other things coming to my attention that involve the concepts of charity, altruism, kindness, gratitude...it is not just a coincidence.

Speaking of gratitude, one of the cool things that I'm referring to is the site, The Whole 9. I read many great essays on the site, and there was one piece, a write up about the photographer Sebastiao Salgado. The author included one of Salgado's image, a heartbreaking, but beautiful image of a naked boy. A starved naked boy. This boy was standing next to a tree that was as naked and stark as he was. It was done in B&W, and it looked almost like it was set in snow, the sand was that white.

The comments following contained the word gratitude, many were immediately so thankful as they were reminded of their own blessings. That's important.

But what kept haunting me was this thought...

"It can't stop at gratitude."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful - I am fascinated by synchronicity, and frequently go hunting for people writing on the topic - today I found just two blogs - your post, and this one posted on the same day: http://feliciannlibo.com/?p=735 - also about synchronicity and its relationship to gratitude!

As I commented on that blog, I agree that there is a a connection between the cultivating gratitude in our lives and experiencing synchronicity - both by making it happen more often, and by inspiring gratitude, in turn (ex: my response to one wonderful coinci-dance was to verbally thank acity, an ocean, and then all of reality itself: http://teapotshappen.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/rubber-ducky-youre-the-one)

Anyway, thanks for your post - I look forward to the rest of today, which will, I hope, be a day inspired by the "gratitude synchronicity" that your blog post was a part of.

"Gratitude and thanks!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4iZNEq5bi8

Unknown said...

Thanks to both of you for your timely writing and comments on the same day I posted "Synchronicity & Gratitude" on the Gratitude Project website. I feel honored to be part of this "gratitude synchronicity" happening on multiple levels.

Thank you!

M.K. Williams said...

Hey sorry - I've been wrapped up in my own self lately - saw that I got comments but I wanted to say thank you. I will try to check out that site for Gratitude Project that was mentioned. Gotta share internet this weekend. (I'm spoiled! LOL)